Can a diesel car run on Heating Oil?

Can a diesel car run on Heating Oil?

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Discussion

gizlaroc

17,251 posts

225 months

Wednesday 5th May 2010
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Someone I know runs his 320d on a 50:50 mix of 28 sec and diesel.

His is a 2002 150bhp 2.0 litre common rail diesel.

He is at 70k miles now and been doing it from new.



BIG DUNC

1,918 posts

224 months

Saturday 8th May 2010
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One point that no one has mentioned in relation to the original post, is that if you do use it, make sure you filter it well. You probably have never run your heating tank to empty (or not that often). If its an old tank, it may well have sediment in the bottom that you really dont want going into the car engine. There may also be some water right at the bottom of the tank as well. If in any doubt dont use the very last drop, as a new engine will out weigh the cost of the last couple of litres. Otherwise, go for it (and volunteer to pay the tax people their share....)

On a related note, the French used to have blue die in their untaxed diesel rather than our red (they may still do, I dont know). I happen to know that if you mix blue and red about 50/50 it goes clear. How handy is that?

jamiehowpasley

3,701 posts

163 months

Thursday 28th October 2010
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Depends on the car/engine/pump what fuel you can safely use.My old six cylinder Merc could run on just about anything, my Xantia HDI loved a mix of veg oil and derv(50/50 in summer, 25/75 in winter) but my mondeo tdci hated anything other than straight derv. My current VW TDi s (golf and passat) will run on 50% veg oil but apparently it eats the rubber in the pump seals so I'm not doing that. Red gasoil, white derv and 35 second heating oil are very similar apart from additives so are interchangeable at least for a short while. I currently use heating oil which I rescued from a building which was getting demolished for tractors, cement mixers generators etc but I wouldn't put it in my current road cars.

twistedhicap

5 posts

160 months

Sunday 2nd January 2011
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Diesel be it red or white as of the 1st of jan 2011 has to be ULSD(up to 7%bio) Diesel has a redwood viscosity of 35seconds Heating systems use many different types of fuel but in the main Kerosene which is 28second oil being thiunner than diesel the other common fuel is Gas oil which is diesel dye red with a chemical tracer too so it can e tracked for customs reasons due to the ruling on USLD use in off road vehicles as well as on road all tractors machines generators etc will be required to run on ULS gas oil, heating Gas Oil can still have the higher sulpher content but many companys are supplying bioblend 35second heating fuels now too.

To answer the question a diesel engine will run fine on 28 sec Kero but for how long ? reasons for this are it has less lubricity than £5 second Diesel it burns hotter is has faster flame front this dammages or over heats the engines ! I have seen first hand the dammage to engines and heads from running on neet Kero ! (Cracked liners, dammaged valves, cracked/ warped heads)

And lastly its illegal to use it as a road fuel as is Red dyed fuels and the HMRC have the power to fine or seize vehicles and crush them found running on it !

Personaly i wouldnt do it as its now to higher risk but i do know of people who have done it and they used to cut it with oil or better two stroke oil as its designed to burn !

So fair play to those who do but beware they may catch up with you and well is it worth a fine at best or the loss of your vehicle or a record for doing it ! its tempting at the current price of fuels but i know i have spent alot on my Vehicle and wont risk the loos of it due to saving a penny or 10 on fuel !

Larry Dickman

3,762 posts

219 months

Monday 3rd January 2011
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twistedhicap said:
Diesel be it red or white as of the 1st of jan 2011 has to be ULSD(up to 7%bio) Diesel has a redwood viscosity of 35seconds Heating systems use many different types of fuel but in the main Kerosene which is 28second oil being thiunner than diesel the other common fuel is Gas oil which is diesel dye red with a chemical tracer too so it can e tracked for customs reasons due to the ruling on USLD use in off road vehicles as well as on road all tractors machines generators etc will be required to run on ULS gas oil, heating Gas Oil can still have the higher sulpher content but many companys are supplying bioblend 35second heating fuels now too.

To answer the question a diesel engine will run fine on 28 sec Kero but for how long ? reasons for this are it has less lubricity than £5 second Diesel it burns hotter is has faster flame front this dammages or over heats the engines ! I have seen first hand the dammage to engines and heads from running on neet Kero ! (Cracked liners, dammaged valves, cracked/ warped heads)

And lastly its illegal to use it as a road fuel as is Red dyed fuels and the HMRC have the power to fine or seize vehicles and crush them found running on it !

Personaly i wouldnt do it as its now to higher risk but i do know of people who have done it and they used to cut it with oil or better two stroke oil as its designed to burn !

So fair play to those who do but beware they may catch up with you and well is it worth a fine at best or the loss of your vehicle or a record for doing it ! its tempting at the current price of fuels but i know i have spent alot on my Vehicle and wont risk the loos of it due to saving a penny or 10 on fuel !
Good post.

Couple of questions if I may. You say "up to 7% bio" what does this mean exactly, does it mean that it can be 1% bio? I could understand a minimum of 7% but up to 7% doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Also, what does sulphur actually do in diesel? I believe that it is used in cigarettes to promote burning somehow, is it used for the same reason in diesel? I ask because I always got more mpg from one suppliers diesel than I do from others & have often wondered if this was due to sulphur content, or maybe a different chemical?

twistedhicap

5 posts

160 months

Monday 3rd January 2011
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As far as i understand from the info floating around our offices and the such that i have found elsewhere any ULSD Diesel supplied after 1/1/2011 Will have up to 7% of bio fuel so if you bought 100 liters upto 7 of those would be biodiesel so it could be as low as nothing or as high as 7% biofuel has a higher centane rating than dinofuel usually this would improve the performance of the fuel not by much by may make a difference. I think most of these changes are all emmisions and carbon reduction efforts for what there worth !

The sulphur in fuel acted as a lubricant for the high tollerence moving parts in the fuel injection systems like fuel injection pumps ( Especialy rotory distributor types) and injectors etc !

Hope this helps David

Larry Dickman

3,762 posts

219 months

Monday 3rd January 2011
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twistedhicap said:
As far as i understand from the info floating around our offices and the such that i have found elsewhere any ULSD Diesel supplied after 1/1/2011 Will have up to 7% of bio fuel so if you bought 100 liters upto 7 of those would be biodiesel so it could be as low as nothing or as high as 7% biofuel has a higher centane rating than dinofuel usually this would improve the performance of the fuel not by much by may make a difference. I think most of these changes are all emmisions and carbon reduction efforts for what there worth !

The sulphur in fuel acted as a lubricant for the high tollerence moving parts in the fuel injection systems like fuel injection pumps ( Especialy rotory distributor types) and injectors etc !

Hope this helps David
Thanks David & yes it sort of helps smile Do you know what is used to lubricate the moving parts now that sulphur has been reduced? Obviously cars are not going to be seizing up left right & centre and parts are still being lubricated so I guess there is another additive being used. Thanks again.

twistedhicap

5 posts

160 months

Monday 3rd January 2011
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well the Bio will help im guessing the additive package added to the base stock diesel will have lubricants in it !

david

Larry Dickman

3,762 posts

219 months

Tuesday 4th January 2011
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Thanks David.

leorest

2,346 posts

240 months

Saturday 8th January 2011
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3doorPete said:
My oil fired central heating is being replaced with gas next week. I have 200 litres of heating oil left though.
Can I fill up my wife's Citroen Xsara Picasso 2.0HDI with the oil and will it run ok or cause any damage?? Looks and smells like diesel!
I suspect you no longer needs an answer due to the time since the original post! but if you were to use a dilution of 15% - 20% I doubt the engine would notice! It would be a bit like getting your VAT back jester

Transmitter Man

4,253 posts

225 months

Saturday 8th January 2011
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beta54

1 posts

160 months

Saturday 15th January 2011
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28 sec will run in most diesels but not well in HDI i think, mix with veg oil, 12 to 1 part veg oil.

newdomainer

1 posts

158 months

Wednesday 30th March 2011
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I've been reliably informed that putting 3 litres of sainsburys own brand cooking oil in a 25litre drum and then filling up with 28sec (22 litres) makes 25litres of road grade fuel which passes a customs dip-test (well, my 'informant' got stopped by them and passed ;-)

They've been running a 2002 rover 75 diesel and peugeot 206 for nearly 2 years on the stuff.... no engine or pump faults so far... it's very tempting but I run LPG vehicles so I'd have to start over with a diesel fleet... but given the cost of LPG (doubled in 4 years) it might be worth thinking about?

craigmctaggart

6 posts

196 months

Wednesday 12th October 2011
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I had heard about heating oil being used as a fuel for cars and decided to give it a shot, I can confirm that my Smart Forfour Cdi runs well on it with no noitceable difference from standard diesel, with no difference in emissions or power (it looks exactly the same as derv oil too)

I was wary to start with as there are a dozen people on here all claiming different stories, (so thought i would go out and prove it right or wrong)

I decided to test all this drop test viscosity stuff and measured out two long tubes of normal diesel and heating oil, I dropped a metal ball through it and they both hit the bottom at the same time. So i knew the viscosity was the same (which i believed would determine the burn rate of the oil).

I noticed on touching the oil between my fingers the heating oil felt noticably different, almost like a dry oil compared to the derv, so this confirmed the story on the oil requiring a 2 stroke oil to be mixed with it to protect the pumps.

I started running it on a 50/50 mix with standard diesel, after 10000 miles with no problems I decided to lower the ratio with a vegetable oil (veg oil is the lubricant), so now i am running pure heating oil but with a 20/1 ratio mix of veg oil. (20litres of heating oil to 1 litre veg oil). The veg oil is doing the job in a similar fashion as a 2 stroke to ensure any moving parts such as the fuel pump/fuel rail are protected. So far so good but i think i might go to 15/1 ratio just to be on the safe side.

At £26 for a full tank its a bargain and looks exactly the same as derv smile







v8250

2,724 posts

212 months

Wednesday 12th October 2011
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craigmctaggart said:
I had heard about heating oil being used as a fuel for cars and decided to give it a shot, I can confirm that my Smart Forfour Cdi runs well on it with no noitceable difference from standard diesel, with no difference in emissions or power (it looks exactly the same as derv oil too)

I was wary to start with as there are a dozen people on here all claiming different stories, (so thought i would go out and prove it right or wrong)

I decided to test all this drop test viscosity stuff and measured out two long tubes of normal diesel and heating oil, I dropped a metal ball through it and they both hit the bottom at the same time. So i knew the viscosity was the same (which i believed would determine the burn rate of the oil).

I noticed on touching the oil between my fingers the heating oil felt noticably different, almost like a dry oil compared to the derv, so this confirmed the story on the oil requiring a 2 stroke oil to be mixed with it to protect the pumps.

I started running it on a 50/50 mix with standard diesel, after 10000 miles with no problems I decided to lower the ratio with a vegetable oil (veg oil is the lubricant), so now i am running pure heating oil but with a 20/1 ratio mix of veg oil. (20litres of heating oil to 1 litre veg oil). The veg oil is doing the job in a similar fashion as a 2 stroke to ensure any moving parts such as the fuel pump/fuel rail are protected. So far so good but i think i might go to 15/1 ratio just to be on the safe side.

At £26 for a full tank its a bargain and looks exactly the same as derv smile
this thread is very interesting. as an energy engineer i would imagine a non-hdi diesel will run quite happily using 35sec heating oil. afterall, most farners use this in tractors, 4x4's etc. however, there are some big differences between 35sec heating oil and pump-sold diesel. the viscosity rating is not the same as the burn [combustion] rate, and it's the combustion rate, combined with, viscosity that's important here. craig's testing is proving a valid point, however, these results will not be the same for all engines/cars. i think it's safe in testing a 50/50mix for say 1000miles, but, you should also consider the gummimg-up [carbon] effect when using 35sec oil in a burner/engine that's not set-up for this combustion rate. an answer here would be to use good diesel injector/system cleaner on a more frequent basis. good luck to all you testers smile

craigmctaggart

6 posts

196 months

Friday 14th October 2011
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It was interesting to see that it works fine in a new type high pressure rail fuel system, which people were arguing would die straight away if you put anything else other than derv in.

I have since done about 1500 miles on a 20/1 ratio mix and its still performing well, engine is a modern Cdi and hasnt failed yet. I see no harm in putting in some injector cleaner in the fuel every 6 months to be on the safe side, but I am quite happy so far.

I do around 28k a year for work as a field engineer and get paid for the mileage, running the car on this is saving me around £200 pounds each month so I am willing to experiment. So much so i have found out that it runs pritty much on anything, I had 25 litres of old engine oil which i filtered and stuck in my fuel tank with normal derv, at a 20% ratio no problems, mixed veg oil with diesel no problems although i had a high ratio of derv as i knew veg oil is fairly gummy on its own.

Seems to be as long as your sensible and you ensure the viscosity is the same as normal diesel it will burn it, you just need to remember that a rail system needs to be able to spray the fuel in fine quantities so any increased viscosity needs to be avoided. I am probably due a fuel filter change now, but otherwise diesel owenership has been quite an education lesson on what they run on. It seems there is LOTS of rubbish on the net on what new Cdi's will and will not run on.

So far so good I'll keep you posted how my car runs smile



blueg33

35,950 posts

225 months

Friday 14th October 2011
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Tony427 said:
You've got me there and no mistake for I have no idea why your Central Heating Oil you store at the end of your garden smells differently from the diesel you are in daily contact with.

Perhaps your neighbour's cats pee in it?

Cheers,

Tony
Because they are not quite the same oil if this is anything to go by

Fuel Oil Composition paper

Although this says they are the same except for additives. So maybe I misinterpreted the paper

Internet research said:
Diesel engines are more expensive to build than their gasoline-fueled counterparts. Their virtue lies in their sparing use of a relatively inexpensive fuel, and in their long life and low maintenance costs. Early diesel engines were mainly large, low rpm machines, but modern diesel engineering has seen the development of light, high speed engines. The major uses of diesel engines are in: commercial trucks, propulsion of ships and boats, railroad locomotives, industrial engines, and private automobiles. Diesel oils are among the products considered "fuel oils" Home heating oil is similar to diesel oil but has a separate CAS number (68476-30-2). Just as Diesel oil 1 is similar in chemical composition to Fuel oil 1, with the exception of additives, so is Diesel oil 2 similar in chemical composition to Fuel oil 2, with the exception of additives. Diesel fuels, and typical home heating oil and high aromatic content home heating oil, are all forms of no. 2 fuel oil. Diesel oils, as well as typical heating oil, fall under the broader category of Fuel Oil Number 2 (CAS 68476-30-2).

Fuel oils are refined from crude petroleum and may be categorized as either a distillate fuel or a residual fuel depending on the method of production. In terms of refining crude oil, diesel fuels are middle distillates. The middle distillates include kerosene, aviation fuels, diesel fuels, and fuel oil #1 and 2. These fuels contain paraffins (alkenes), cycloparaffins (cycloalkanes), aromatics, and olefins from approximately C9 to C20. Aromatic compounds of concern included alkylbenzenes, toluene, naphthalenes, and PAHs.

Fuel oils no. 1 and no. 2 are distillate fuels which consist of distilled process streams. Residual fuel oils such as fuel oil no. 4 are residues remaining after distillation or cracking, or blends of such residues with distillates. Diesel fuels are approximately similar to fuel oils used for heating (fuel oils no. 1, no. 2, and no. 4). All fuel oils consist of complex mixtures of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. The aliphatic alkanes (paraffins) and cycloalkanes (naphthenes) are hydrogen saturated and compose approximately 80-90% of the fuel oils. Aromatics (e.g., benzene) and olefins (e.g., styrene and indene) compose 10-20% and l%, respectively, of the fuel oils. Fuel oil no. 1 (straightrun kerosene) is a light distillate which consists primarily of hydrocarbons in the C9-C16 range; fuel oil no. 2 is a heavier, usually blended, distillate with hydrocarbons in the C11-C20 range. Straight-run distillates may also be used to produce fuel oil no. 1 and diesel fuel oil no. 1. Diesel fuel no. 1 and no. 2 are similar in chemical composition to fuel oil no. 1 and fuel oil no. 2, respectively, with the exception of the additives. Diesel fuels predominantly contain a mixture of C10 through C19 hydrocarbons, which include approximately 64% aliphatic hydrocarbons, l-2% olefinic hydrocarbons, and 35% aromatic hydrocarbons
Edited by blueg33 on Friday 14th October 12:53

v8250

2,724 posts

212 months

Monday 17th October 2011
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>>You've got me there and no mistake for I have no idea why your Central Heating Oil you store at the end of your garden smells differently from the diesel you are in daily contact with.<<

Due to aromatics added to differentiate between individual fuel types.

>>Because they are not quite the same oil if this is anything to go by
Fuel Oil Composition paper
Although this says they are the same except for additives. So maybe I misinterpreted the paper<<

You cannot use this datasheet link. It's North American data which differs considerably from BS/EN graded fuels. This is particulalrly relavent to emmission/polution levels per cm3 of combustion. See the following 3x links for direct comparison of technical makeup/GSE's etc:

http://gdjones.co.uk/Content/UserFiles/files/TDS_K...

http://gdjones.co.uk/Content/UserFiles/files/TDS_G...

http://gdjones.co.uk/Content/UserFiles/files/TDS_U...


andygo

6,804 posts

256 months

Wednesday 13th March 2013
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So whats the latest thinking on this topic re latest diesel engine, in particular the Ford 1.6 Duratorque engine? (Dura TORQUE - ha thats a laugh!)

seriouslydaniel

1 posts

129 months

Monday 12th August 2013
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I am very interested in this discussion as my wife is on my back to get rid of the old oil heater we have had sitting next to our house for some years. We also live in a fire prone area. As it has been some time since this thread begun and a while since any big advocates or experimenters like Craigmctaggart have posted.

I have just started putting third of a tank of 20:1 mix of heater oil/vegetable oil along with 2thirds a tank of 'normal' diesel into my 2010 Volkswagen Caddy TDi. I am also about to start using the same if not greater portion of a tank of the 20:1 mix into my '89 Hilux diesel ute.

Both vehicles will need fuel filters soon so i figured it might be a good time to get straight into it. I think I might run an injector cleaner in both cars once its all gone too.

Has anyone got any more 'years' of experience now that might say what I should be careful of????? (It now seems that instead of costing me $400-500 for a tradie to get rid of it, I have about $800 worth of almost free fuel!!!!!smile

Edited by seriouslydaniel on Wednesday 14th August 14:05